messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love
by MadHare0512
Summary: There was much Eric could say about Tim Speedle.


messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love (I'd stay if I could, but the universe won't let me)

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

**AU: Alpha/Beta/Omega**

_"I'd stay if I could, but the universe won't let me. So, please be good and don't you forget me."  
~George Salazar, "The Goodbye Song"_

_ "There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but power. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love."  
~Washington Irving_

There was much Eric could say about Tim Speedle. Eric could tell you that Tim was a good man. That he hated being expected to act like a stereotypical Alpha just because _homine dominatur_ was his Secondary Gender. Don't get him wrong, Speedle could get dominant if he needed to, but he preferred it if he could solve his issues without flashing his fangs or his eyes glowing red. Eric had always admired that about Speedle, that he'd wanted to solve his issues with words rather than fists.

One of the first cases they went on was to an Alpha club, where the entertainment was all Omega, had been the indicator of that idea.

_CSI Miami~CSI Miami~CSI Miami_

It was a case that required the attention of four of them; Eric, Speedle, Calleigh, and Horatio. Eric had come in first with his kit, waiting patiently by the body for Alexx to come and start examining the poor soul, looking at a few strange stains on the floor near where the body had been before it had moved by the paramedics. He'd set his kit down and picked up his camera to get a few photographs when someone had smacked the back of his head.

When he'd turned, he'd come face to face with the club's owner. "What the _Hell_ are you doing, boy? I'm not paying you to take photos of dead patrons. Get back in uniform and hit the poles."

"Excuse me?" Eric had asked, eyebrow arched almost to his hairline.

"I'm not paying you to ask questions either, get going!" The owner grabbed his arm causing him to drop the camera, trying to pull him away from the crime scene.

Eric twisted his wrist, slipping away from the man's hand and trying his best to ignore the fact that the places the man had touched where burning. "Listen, pal-"

"I've told you all a million times to address me as Master or sir," the man interrupted, voice crackling with anger. "Are you deaf as well as stupid or is that just your personality?"

Eric blinked at him in shock. "You can't be serious." He wondered sincerely if the man saw the badge on Eric's belt. "Sir, if you would just-"

"Why are you still standing here?" the man snapped, raising his hand.

Eric cringed back, his arms raised to protect himself. The hit never came. Eric found himself staring at the back of Tim Speedle's head. "Speed?"

Speedle's body was tense, barely-there shivers racing up his spine from the set of his shoulders, the restrained rage building in his body. His voice was contained, but only just, "Sir, you need to back up. You're in our crime scene."

The owner growled, "Don't try to protect him. He knows what he's done."

"Maybe you couldn't see it with your ego blinding you, but _Eric_ isn't one of your dancers. He's an officer with Miami-Dade PD. Should I arrest you for assault and battery now or would you prefer to add impeding a police investigation and harassment charges to the list?" Speedle snapped.

The owner growled and stomped away, metaphorical tail between his legs.

Speedle turned to Eric, "You good?"

Eric nodded, "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks."

"Alexx noticed he was over here and Horatio was going to intervene, I just got here first." Speedle bent down and picked up Eric's camera, handing it back to the man. "Make sure you get some pictures of him, he's involved in this somehow. We'll get him anyway for abuse, we've got plenty of witnesses and that bruise showing up in your arm as evidence."

Eric's lips twitched upwards, "I'll make them good."

"I'm sure you will. I don't think we've had ever had anyone better with a camera."

Eric blinked in shock as Speedle walked back to the pole, where one of the Omega dancers was waiting, arms crossed over her body with her hands clasping her biceps. Speedle couldn't seriously have been flirting.

He distantly heard Tim ask a question as he went back to the stains and took the photographs he needed, alongside a photograph or two of the club owner now growling at one of the other dancers. His ears caught the question loud and clear. "Is your boss always that harsh?"

The dancer, a young girl who couldn't be more than twenty years old, sniffled and nodded, "Yeah. He's like that with all of us. He's like that with the Omegas some of the patrons bring in too."

Speedle glanced at Eric and flashed a smile, a quick quirk of the lip, then his eyes were back in the girl.

No, Speedle wasn't flirting.

Was he?

_CSI Miami~CSI Miami~CSI Miami_

Eric was a smart man. He could do his job and do it well, with no error. He could find the facts in the evidence no matter how small. He was a well-trained CSI and his track-record reflected his success rate.

There were days when he hated all of these points.

Some days he wished he could go back, never have gone to the Academy, that he'd stayed where he was. But here's the thing; he wasn't happy at his previous job, he'd hated it there. He wasn't going anywhere, it was the same God-awful thing day in and day out. Not to mention, Eric was a Cuban, spoke three languages, and was a male Omega. His bosses would try to flirt their way into Eric's pants one moment, then call him a slut or a whore the next. Eric was so happy with Tim. He was so happy to finally have found someone who could appreciate him without trying to sleep with him. Tim was the best friend he could ever ask for and the most considerate lover he'd ever had.

Eric had been in the lab when he was told about Tim's death.

Horatio had made sure no one had said a word to him about it. Horatio had wanted to tell Eric himself. There weren't words to express how upset Eric had been when Horatio had told him.

Horatio had come into the lab, where Eric was processing the last of the fingerprints from the boat alongside the rest of the scales. Eric had looked up and smiled, "H, I was just about to call. I wanted to tell you-"

"Eric," Horatio interrupted gently, "Sit down."

Eric's face fell, "What happened?"

"Eric," a pleading look, a nod to the stool.

A shake of the head, eyes sharpening to steel, determined stubbornness, "Tell me what happened."

Horatio sighed, "It's about Tim."

Eric listened to the man in shocked silence, pure horror wrestling with the tears he was trying not to let fall. When Horatio was done, Eric backed away a step, "No."

Horatio held out his hand. "Eric, I'm so sorry."

Eric shook his head, knees buckling as they struggled to hold his weight. Eric sank to the floor a moment later. "No, this can't be right. He can't be gone." His eyes flashed, flicking between blue and brown as he battled his emotions for control. "No!"

Horatio took a step closer, settling on the floor next to the hurting Omega. He set a hand on Eric's shoulder. He knew Tim hadn't Marked Eric. Eric would've known immediately that Tim had died if the Alpha had. Tim had been waiting, for what no one could say.

Eric was crying fully now, not bothering to hide it as the tears streaked down his face. He was rambling at this point, not even in English, but in broken Spanish. He tripped over his words, begging Horatio to be kidding, pleading with his God not to have taken Tim away from him. He completely broke down in the middle of the lab, Horatio wished he could have drawn the curtains, offer Eric some privacy, but he settled for pulling Eric into a hug as he let his scent roll off of him in a way he hoped comforted the younger man. Eric clung to the redheaded man in his desperation as he sobbed and cried. He was catching lungfuls of Horatio's scent and it calmed him down a bit, soothing his distraught mind and calming his racing heart until his crying had receded to sniffles. He clung to Horatio for another minute before he pulled away and wiped at his tears. "Tell me we can get this guy. Please tell me we aren't going to lose him."

Horatio nodded, "This is our case. Tim was one of ours, we aren't letting his killer get away with this."

Eric stood and held out his hand to help Horatio to his feet. He wiped away the last of the tears and nodded. "Then we have work to do, don't we?"

Horatio nodded back.

There was much Eric could tell you about Tim Speedle. That he was a kind man, a good lover, and hated being stereotyped based on his Secondary Gender. And that Eric wouldn't let the man who killed him get away with the murder. Eric's eyes narrowed as he went over the results of the fingerprints and scales with Horatio. His tears were the messengers of his overwhelming grief that he had to swallow down multiple times and his unspeakable love for the man who'd loved him. He may be unable to properly express it, but he could catch Tim's killer.

It was time to get to work, the tears in his eyes be damned.


End file.
